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Mark Seidel's Blog: 2008 NHL draft grades, Part 2

C+, Calgary Flames – Greg Nemisz is a lot like Joe Colborne in that he has the potential to become a big-time player, but the clock is ticking and he hasn’t shown enough consistency yet. Along with Nemisz, the Flames selected the dynamic Mitch Wahl who can create offense, but at his size (6-foot, 175 pounds) it will be difficult. The other selection I am OK with is T.J. Brodie from Saginaw, but other than that Calgary seemed to favor kids who have underachieved, which is a strange group to offer to the mercurial Mike Keenan.
C, Minnesota Wild – Having had the tremendous honor and pleasure of working for the Wild and Doug Risebrough, and with one of the best scouting staffs in the whole league, this report is going to be very painful for me. But THN tells me I have to be honest, so here it goes. With the exception of the Cuma pick, who’s complete game and big hitting style I loved, the remaining three picks left me underwhelmed. I understand Eero Elo could eventually become an NHLer and Marco Scandella could, too, but I felt with the depth of this draft there were better selections to be made. The Wild seemed to like guys who have a small chance to become a home run and something could be said for that game plan when you only have two picks in the first 114 selections, but the two they took after are long shots to ever play a game in the NHL.
B+, Colorado Avalanche – The Avalanche were another team that didn’t have a first rounder, but that didn’t stop them from adding to their prospect pool. Cameron Gaunce was selected higher than most had him pegged to be, but he has tremendous upside even though it may take a few years for him to become an NHL defenseman. After Gaunce, the Avs took Peter Delmas, the goaltender from Lewiston who some people loved (though not particularly NACS) and Kelsey Tessier who fell because of concerns about his size. In the fifth round, they took a flyer on Mark Olver, another smallish kid who is playing at Northern Michigan. He has shown tremendous offensive instincts at times and I applaud the pick because I think he has a chance to become an NHLer. Colorado finished off the proceedings with a few guys with flaws, but they could because of their other picks. On the whole, it was a solid performance by the Avalanche staff.
C, Edmonton Oilers – Anybody who has followed the NACS’ work knows how much we love the Oilers’ drafting philosophy, but that ended this year. With the exception of Jordan Eberle in the first round, we felt they took too many guys who will never play in the NHL. As an example, there was a time when we liked Johan Motin from Sweden, but the more we viewed him, the more we realized he may become the next in a long line of Swedes who will never leave Sweden. He has to pick up his intensity and passion and reminds us of numerous Swedish kids who would like to play in the NHL, but are content to stay home and earn a comfortable living. The late selection we liked was the re-entry pick of Jordan Bendfeld because he brings an element of toughness that was lacking in this year’s crop. He has a chance to become a No. 6 defenseman for the Oil one day.
B+, Vancouver Canucks – With the hiring of Mike Gillis as the new Canucks GM, expect different ideas to come out of the Left Coast. After reviewing their draft, I am pretty happy with how things went for them. In Cody Hodgson, the Canucks likely took their future captain, a player who plays a similar game to the recently retired Trevor Linden. Hodgson possesses tremendous character, skill and smarts, just like their former captain. After Hodgson, they were fortunate Yann Sauve slipped to No. 41. It was only 18 months ago that Sauve was considered a top-10 talent. Though his stock fell, the parts are there for him to eventually become a stud. Another kid we really liked was Mats Froshaug, a Norwegian taking advantage of the Swedish Junior League. He has a chance to one day become an NHLer when he comes to North America.

ATLANTIC DIVISION

A+, Islanders – The Isles started strong with the selection of Windsor Spitfires center Josh Bailey in the first round, but slowed a bit with their next two picks, Corey Trivino and Aaron Ness. Trivino and Ness are both highly skilled, but played at sub-par levels this year, coming out of Jr. A and U.S. high school hockey, respectively. Also, the smallish Ness – at 5-foot-10, 157 pounds – may have trouble battling against big NHL forwards. Later in the draft, the Islanders did well with the additions of David Toews (the younger brother of Blackhawks star Jonathan ¬Toews) at No. 66, puck-moving Finnish defenseman Jyri Niemi at No. 72 and top 10 talent Kirill Petrov at No. 73. Petrov may not come to North America for a few years, but his competitive drive will kick in and when that happens, they will have a top six forward. The Isles finished off the draft by getting underrated goaltender Kevin Poulin of the Victoriaville Tigres and Jared Spurgeon, another skilled defender from the Memorial Cup champion Spokane Chiefs.
B+, New Jersey Devils – The Devils started by selecting Swedish flash Mattias Tedenby, who is as quick and offensively gifted as any player in the draft. They then got Brandon Burlon, the future power play quarterback for Red Berenson at the University of Michigan. In the middle rounds, the Devils got the underrated duo of Patrice Cormier and Adam Henrique, who should both have huge years in major junior. New Jersey finished by selecting the monstrous Harry Young, who is big and tough, as well as the dynamic David Wohlberg, who will also play in Ann Arbor next season. Once again, David Conte and his staff showed why they are among the best in the league, year in and year out.

B, Pittsburgh Penguins – The Penguins only had four selections this year and didn’t have their first until the fourth round. Although they had to wait a while, their first pick, center Nathan Moon of the Kingston Frontenacs, was worth the wait. Moon is extremely talented and has a lot of the same tendencies as a young Brett Hull. Moon can be lazy at times, but he can also find seams in the offensive zone and finish when given the chance. Furthermore, he has a great personality and if he becomes more serious about his game, Moon could turn out to be a good scorer in the NHL. After Moon, the Penguins took two goaltenders, Alexander Pechurski and Patrick Killeen, who both underachieved this year, however they have a ton of upside. Finally, the Pens took a flyer on Jr. A defenseman Nicholas D’Agostino from St. Michael’s. He’s extremely bright and committed to Cornell, but like a lot of young NCAA-bound kids, he may end up in major junior instead.

A, New York Rangers – The Rangers picked a total of seven players and at NACS, there were a few we loved. The selection of Michael Del Zotto was another first round pick the Rangers made that, in a few years, will have people wondering why the kid fell in the draft. At No. 20, the Rangers got a defenseman who has as much offensive skill as any in the draft at his position, including Drew Doughty. Although Del Zotto’s defensive game needs work, it’s not something he can’t learn and improve on. The second round selection of Derek Stepan was interesting because there were a lot of safer picks and in our opinion, more skilled players available. Later, the Rangers took Evgeny Grachev, Tomas Kundratek and Chris Doyle much lower than they should have gone, which bodes well for down the road. New York finished by taking the oft-injured, but a personal favorite, Mitch Gaulton from the Erie Otters. Although Gaulton hasn’t played enough for scouts to get a good evaluation on him, trust me when I say there is a reason he was a top five pick in the OHL. Assuming he can stay healthy, Gaulton may be a pleasant surprise for Gotham City.

C, Philadelphia Flyers – Flyers scout Denis Patterson is one of my favorite guys in the business, but some of their picks left me scratching my head. The exception was Philadelphia’s first pick, Luca Sbisa, who was one of the most improved players in the draft. Along with Sbisa, the Flyers took Marc-Andre Bourdon, who created as much variance in opinion as any player in the draft. Some teams, had him slotted at the top of the second round, while others had him in the sixth or even seventh round. The Quebec League defenseman had nights where he was awesome, but there were also nights when he was downright awful and because of that, his stock dropped. With that said, Bourdon certainly has the skills to become a solid player, but he needs more consistency in his game. After those two defenders, the Flyers took two goalies – both of whom I feel will never make it past the American League – and the smallish, but quick, Zac Rinaldo from St. Mike’s of the Ontario League, who fits the new NHL, but still needs to get stronger to make it.

John Tavares scores with a move no one had ever done before

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John Tavares scores with a move no one had ever done before

The New York Islanders captain undressed Jay Bouwmeester in the most unusual of ways, but the important thing is he kept the puck. Then he buried it

John Tavares: good at hockey.

The New York Islanders captain pulled off an absolutely stunning series of moves last night, culminating in a laser-shot goal against St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen. But let's get back to his humbling of Olympic gold medallist Jay Bouwmeester, because that's where the real magic happened.

Witness, as Tavares puts his stick behind his back and grabs it with his other hand while still skating and fending off Bouwmeester. Then, since he is a patient boy, Tavares waits and waits and waits before firing one top corner on Allen:

As the soccer folks would say, lovely. New York would go on to beat the Blues 3-2, with Anders Lee scoring the other two goals for the Isles. After struggling to begin the season, New York is now 6-2-2 in its past 10 games. Tavares leads the squad with 21 points through 26 contests.

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The Golden Knights have hit another hurdle with their name, this time with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. A trademark request has been rejected, but it doesn’t sound like the team expects a name change.

The Vegas Golden Knights are really having a tough time catching a break in the naming department.

On Wednesday, a trademark request by the Golden Knights was rejected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in large part because the name and logo were deemed too similar to that of the NCAA’s College of St. Rose Golden Knights.

Yes, that’s right, yet another roadblock between the NHL’s newest franchise and the name Golden Knights.

The first hurdle for the team, and the first real hubbub about the name, came shortly after the naming ceremony in late November. The team had only had the Golden Knights moniker in place for a week when it was reported by The Fayetteville Observer’s Steve DeVane that the U.S. Army was set to review Vegas’ use of the name because it is shared by the Army’s highly decorated parachute team.

And all that came after Vegas owner Bill Foley purposely strayed from his first choice for the team name, Black Knights, in order to avoid any conflict with the U.S. Army’s NCAA athletics programs and after the singular name, Knights, was reportedly avoided in order to forego any conflict with the OHL’s London Knights.

Suffice to say, the naming process has been a headache thus far. However, before those who despise the name and/or logo go celebrating in the streets, it should be noted that the latest naming hurdle likely means nothing in the long run.

“Office actions like this are not at all unusual, and we will proceed with the help of outside counsel in preparing a response to this one,” the statement reads.

In their statement, Vegas also pointed to the shared names of UCLA and Boston, both named the Bruins, Miami and Carolina, both named the Hurricanes, and even pointed out that Vegas and Clarkson share the Golden Knights name. None of this is to mention the MLB’s Texas Rangers and the NHL’s New York Rangers share a name.

“We believe, at the end of the day, all parties will embrace the fact that we are the Vegas Golden Knights and this absolutely will work out,” Craven told Gotz. “I hope people don’t overreact to this at all. We believe everyone will be satisfied. We are only going to enhance the name Golden Knights for everyone. That’s our goal.”

UPDATE: NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly has released the following statement:

“We are currently reviewing the Trademark Office's letter and will prepare a detailed response demonstrating why we continue strongly to believe the Vegas Golden Knights mark should be registered in co-existence with the college registration, just as a number of other nicknames currently co-exist in professional and college sports (particularly where there is no overlap as to the sport for which the nickname is being used). That response is not due until June 7, 2017.

“We consider this a routine matter and it is not our intention to reconsider the name or logo of this franchise. We fully intend to proceed as originally planned, relying on our common law trademark rights as well as our state trademark registrations while we work through the process of addressing the question raised in the federal applications.”

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Coyotes’ Cunningham alert, awake and joking with teammates, but remains in hospital

There’s still no word as to what exactly caused Coyotes AHL captain Craig Cunningham to collapse on ice, but the 26-year-old was in contact with teammates and cracking jokes earlier this week.

More than two weeks after collapsing on the ice ahead of an AHL game between the Coyotes and Jets AHL affiliates, news has come that Craig Cunningham is starting to get back to his old self.

According to Tucson’s KVOA, Cunningham spoke with two teammates, Brandon Burlon and Christian Fisher, via FaceTime earlier this week, and both said that things are starting to look up for the 26-year-old Cunningham.

Fisher added that it was nice to see Cunningham, the captain of the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate Tucson Roadrunners, smiling again. But he wasn’t just smiling, he was also trying to have a good time with his teammates while hinting that he wants to get back on the ice.

“He was cracking jokes just as if he were here the next day," Fisher told KVOA. "It was pretty funny. He said he wanted us to come pick him up and take him to the rink. He was joking around. Stuff like that.”

The mystery still remains as to what caused Cunningham’s collapse, however. It came just moments before the game was set to start and resulted in medical staff in the building cutting away his equipment in order to attend to him. Cunningham ended up leaving the ice on a stretcher, was transported to hospital and he remained in critical but stable condition for much of the past two weeks.

Still, though, Burlon and Fisher said that there’s no “definitive answer” as to what caused Cunningham’s medical emergency. That’s more than all right with both players, too, so long as Cunningham’s health is starting to look up.

"What we do know is that he is doing well and we are moving forward here," Fisher told KVOA. "Hopefully, he will start the road to recovery now.”

Cunningham has suited up for 319 AHL games over the course of his career, netting 101 goals and 203 points, as well as scoring an additional three goals and eight points in 63 NHL games. He was drafted 97th overall by the Bruins in 2010, but was picked up by Arizona off waivers from Boston during the 2014-15 season.

Prospect Need to Know: Brett Murray growing for Buffalo

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Prospect Need to Know: Brett Murray growing for Buffalo

The budding power forward is having a successful season with USHL Youngstown, with Penn State on the horizon. Learn about him and other future NHLers in our weekly wrap

The world junior camp rosters are really rolling out now and there have been some minor surprises. Sweden will not be taking a last look at 2017 draft prospects Timothy Liljegren and Erik Brannstrom on defense, while Russia is taking a pass on Columbus pick Vitalii Abramov, among others. And now we know that Nolan Patrick will not suit up for Canada, due to injury. But let's concentrate on the player around the prospect world that are having good weeks. As always, here's our wrap-up of who is making waves.

The Spotlight

Brett Murray, LW (Buffalo): We are just beginning to see what Murray is capable on the ice, but it's been a pretty good show already. The burgeoning power forward has the right frame at 6-foot-5 and 222 pounds and has put up 16 points in his first 22 USHL games with the Youngstown Phantoms. Now it's just a matter of speed for the Sabres' fourth-rounder.

“Being a bigger guy, my acceleration and quickness off the start is something I can work on," Murray said. "Always improving top speed in open-ice skating is a huge thing.”

With that foreboding frame, Murray can grow into a force once he puts it all together. The early results are encouraging and he already has championship experience from this past season, when he helped the CCHL's Carleton Place Canadians win their Jr. A title in Ontario's Ottawa region. In Youngstown, he's facing tougher competition and the stakes will rise again next year when he heads to Hockey Valley and the NCAA's Penn State Nittany Lions.

“It just seemed like the right fit," Murray said. "They have a new state-of-the-art facility and as a progression for me, just being in the gym every day with an elite strength and conditioning coach and nutritionist seemed like the best for me.”

So if everything goes according to plan, Buffalo will have a beast of a left winger once Murray is finished in the NCAA. He's already got the instincts to be a handful.

“I like to work the puck down low in the corners," he said. "Use my size and skill to create space for my linemates and myself.”

And with the World Jr. A Challenge coming up in Bonnyville, Alta., Murray is proof of what that tournament can do for a prospect that isn't necessarily on the mainstream radar. Murray played for Canada East last season and soaked in everything he could from international duty.

“I really enjoyed it," he said. "It was an excellent experience, matching myself up against top prospects from other countries and even my linemates.”

In The Pipeline

Sergei Zborovskiy, D (NY Rangers): Games don’t get much better than the seven-pointer Zborovskiy hung on poor Prince Albert in his Regina Pats’ 12-2 destruction. The big-bodied defenseman was all over the place, jumping into scoring positions and getting pucks to the net. He has also been invited to Russia’s final world junior camp.

Carter Hart, G (Philadelphia): It seems like I’m mentioning Hart a lot lately, but I can’t help it because he refuses to give up goals. Using structure and technique, the favorite heading into Canada’s WJC camp posted three straight shutouts before Medicine Hat finally dented the armor in his most recent game. Hart still got the win, though.

Guillaume Brisebois, D (Vancouver): Canada has a lot of options on the blueline, so it will be interesting to see if Brisebois can snag a spot. The Charlottetown Islanders rearguard has great size and skating ability, helping him to 17 points through 23 games. But he can also use his tools to shut players down and that might be his key to making the world juniors.

Henrik Borgstrom, C (Florida): He’s been great all year for NCAA Denver, but the announcement of Finland’s world junior roster gives us another reason to mention the speedy and talented freshman. Borgstrom has 16 points through 14 games with the Pioneers and Finland will need his offense with so many big names from last year’s squad unavailable.

Caleb Jones, D (Edmonton): Team USA named its preliminary world junior roster on Monday and it's looking like a solid crew. But who will step up on defense with so many options? Jones is one candidate, as his combination of physicality and skill make him dangerous. The Portland Winterhawks rearguard has an impressive 25 points in 28 WHL games this year.

2017 Draft Stars

Robert Thomas, C – London Knights (OHL): Thomas had one heckuva coming out party on the weekend, racking up five points for the Knights in a 6-2 win over Flint. Strong on his skates and blessed with some fantastic offensive moves, Thomas now has 30 points in 27 games on a deep team.

Owen Tippett, RW – Mississauga Steelheads (OHL): There is so much to like about Tippett’s game, from his size (6-foot-2, 204 pounds) to his skating to his shot. All of those were in full gear against Ottawa on the weekend, where Tippett popped in four points in a 6-3 victory.

Lias Andersson, C – HV 71 (SHL): One of three draft prospects to make Sweden’s final WJC camp roster, Andersson plays an excellent two-way game and already has chemistry with Carl Grundstrom and Elias Pettersson on the international stage. Back with HV 71, Andersson is one of the top-scoring junior-aged players in the SHL with eight points in 22 games.

Jayson Dobay, D – Thayer Academy Tigers (Mass. HS): An excellent skater with great offensive instincts, Dobay is a UMass commit and one to watch in the New England prep ranks this season. With six assists in his first three games for the Tigers, his campaign is off to a great start.

Jesse Bjugstad, D – Stillwater Ponies (Minn. HS): When you think of Minnesota high school defensemen, finesse and skating usually comes to mind. But Bjugstad can also play the game with an edge. The 6-foot-2, 185-pounder has great NHL pedigree (dad Scott, cousin Nick) and has kicked off the season with two goals in two games.